UCC - one of Ireland's BEST and most BEAUTIFUL UNIVERSITIES. Are you looking for somewhere to study?

Today we visit University College Cork, or UCC, one of the National Universities of Ireland along with, UCG in Galway, UCD in Dublin and Maynooth University. The university was founded as one of three 'Queen’s Colleges' way back in 1845, Belfast and Galway being the other two.

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.On our way into the campus we cross the Lee, Cork's main river, which lends a real beauty to the grounds of the campus here. We pass a building on the right, the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, an art museum named after its benefactor, a Wall Street Financier and chairman of Leeman Brothers. Among several prizes for architecture it was also named Best Public Building in Ireland in 2005 by the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland.

We walk through the President’s Garden. It was once a walled space and was reserved exclusively by the college president, but the walls have now been removed so that it can be enjoyed by everyone. It contains some very spectacular trees dating back to the 1840s and it’s meticulously looked after by the college grounds staff. The beautiful building you can see in front of us now is the back of one of the rows of buildings along the beautiful quadrangle, which is just on the other side, and which we’ll see in a minute.

I have to say that it’s a very beautiful campus overall and I’m sure it would be lovely to spend a few years studying here. But, the best is yet to come. We now approach from another of the Uni’s campus entrances, down at Gaol Bridge,. And I’m going to walk up from this entrance into the amazing campus quadrangle. The imposing building of the old county jail is in front of us. The River Lee is just to the left. You’ve gotta admit that the setting of this university is truly amazing. If you were a student here I think it would be difficult to feel that you’re not on holiday.

There are over 24 thousand students all looked after by nearly 3 and a half thousand academic staff and administrative staff.

The University has been rated Irish University of the year by The Sunday Times on 5 occasions. I’m not exactly sure how they come to that conclusion, but in a moment we’ll pass under the arches of this building and you see the quadrangle and then you’ll certainly be in no doubt about the beauty of the place. As we come through the archway toward the quadrangle, we’re met with a mosaic on the floor with the university’s coat of arms.

The Tudor Gothic Quadrangle and many of the older buildings here were designed by the collaborating Irish architects Sir Thomas Deane and Benjamin Woodward. I’m sure you could envisage yourself sitting here at exam time with a good book on quantum physics or musical analysis.

I think there’s a timeless quality about these old universities. You get the impression not much has changed in decades. Of course nothing stays the same, and education has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years, not least in the numbers of foreign students that now study in places like this. But, I think it’s so important for young people to have this experience, to meet with peers from all over the world, and to get a few years of their life where there can investigate a subject in some detail, and in the process find out about themselves. Everyone should be able to have this experience.